heckendorn



(N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. G. HEOKENDORN. Stretching Hats and Machinery therefor.

No. 237,683. v Patehted Feb. 15,1881.

JJG.1. IICLZ.

I N.PETERS FljOTO-UTMDGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. 01C

2 M 6 h S .W 6 e. h S 3 H MW d o M 0 W Stretching Hats and Machinery therefor.

Patented Feb. 15,1881.

F 7/ E R //4 M e M H h U w f x/ W7 4i I m 8 e m I m s m: W H T\ M III M Nllll. WI e m. e AW N4 PETERS. PNOTO-LIIHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. D c.

(No Model.) I 3Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. O. HEGKENDORN. Stretching Hats and Mawhinel therefor.

No. 237,683. Patented Feb. 15,1881

N. PETERS, PHDTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASJJNGTON D C the tip and sidecrown.

the points to causes a circumferential stretch- UNITED STATES PATENT @rricn.

HENRY C. HEOKENDORN, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM H. WILHELM, OF SAME PLACE.

STRETCH ING HATS, AND MACHINERY THEREFOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 237,683, dated February 15, 1881. Application filed December 6, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, HENRY O. HEOKEN- DORN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania, have invented certain lmprovements in Stretching Hats, and in Machinery Therefor, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to so stretch a hat-body that the proper sha )e will be imparted to the same without wrink ing or corrugating the body, and without undue stretching and fracture of the tip; a further object being toprovide a machine whereby the stretching of the hat-body may be rapidly and accurately effected.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2,3, and 4, Sheet 1, are diagrams illustrating the principle on which my improvement in stretching hats is based; Fig. 5, Sheet 2, a vertical section of a machine which I have devised for stretching hats on this principle; Fig. 6, a front view, partly in section, of the machine shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, Sheet 3, a sectional plan on the line 1 2, Fig. 5; and Fig. 8, a sectional view, illustratin gamodified form of machine.

The hat-body A, prior to being stretched, is of a conical shape, as shown in Fig. 1, and it is the object of the stretching operation to reduce the body to the shape shown in Fig. 2, or a shape approximating thereto, so that the subsequent blocking and other shaping operations may be properly performed. In order to effect this stretching of the hat-body, I apply pressure from the inside at a limited and uneven number of points, the number preferred being the least that can be used hence in the diagrams, Figs. 1 to 4, I have assumed that the expanding arms or levers act upon the hat-body at the three equidistant points :20 mm. The points as are at or near that portion of the hat-body which forms the crown-angle of the finished hatthat is to say, the angle between Radial expansion at ing of the hat-body on areas indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3, the greatest amount of stretching being on the lines 3 between the points 00, and the degree of stretch gradually diminishing to the center of the crown and to the three equidistant points where the side crown joins the brim, at which points, and at the said center of the crown, there is practically no stretching of the hatbody. I The action of the expanding devices is intermittent, and the hat-body is slightly turned after each action of said expanding devices, so that the latter act in succession on different circumferential portions of the hat-body, and the uniform stretching of the latter is insured. Although the diameter of the hat-body at and near the line of the crown-angle is increased by the action of the expanding devices, there is really no stretching of the majority of the individual fibers composing the hatbody, or any tearing apart of these fibers,-because in an ordinary Wool hat-body the majority of the fibers, owing to the method of manufacture, are arranged at an angle in respect to the circumferential line of the body, so that the effect of the expanding action, exerted in the manner set forth, is simply to change the angle of these fibers in relation to each other, as will be understood on comparing the area bounded by the dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 3 with the area .bounded by the dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 4. My invention is therefore applicable to the stretching of wool hats of a character which cannot be stretched on an ordinary machine without fracture. Of course such of the fibers as are circinnferentially arranged are more or less stretched; but these fibers form such a very small proportion of the whole number as not to affect the general result above described. As the fibers at and near the tip of the crown have not been radially extended there will be no tendency of the hat-body, after being stretched, to return to its original conical shape when the fibers are subjectd to influences which tendto cause shrinkage.

I will now proceed to describe the machine which I have devised for stretching hats on the principle above'set forth, reference being had to Figs. 5, 6, and 7 of the drawings.

B B are the opposite side frames of the machine, which support the annular trough D, and are furnished with bearings for the driving-shaft E, a pulley 011 which is adapted for the reception of a belt from a pulley on any adjacent power-driven shaft. The shaft E has a crank, a, connected, by a link, I), with the rearwardly-projecting arm at of a frame F, the latter having lateral arms 0 e, which carry at the ends anti-friction rollers 0, adapted to waysf, formed on the side frames, B, of the machine. (See Fig. 6.) The frame F has its upper surface trued, so as to form a bearing for an anti-friction roller, 0, carried by the lower end of a sleeve, G, which is adapted to and is free to slide vertically on the lower end of a stem, H, secured to and projecting from a central tubular projection, g, on the trough D, a spring, h, interposed between said projection g and the sleeve Gr, tending to maintain the roller on the latter constantly in contact with the bearing-surface on the frame F.

A frame, J, is secured to the upper end of the stem H, this frame having projections to which are hung three levers, M, the short arms of said levers beingconneeted, by means of rods N, to the sleeve G. The long arms of the levers project upward beyond the frame J and above a ring, m, supported upon anti-frietion rollers it carried by said frame, this ring being free to turn on the rollers, but being maintained in its proper vertical position by means of an annular retainer, t, bolted to the frame J and adapted to a slot in the ring m.

The long arms of the levers being in the central position shown in Figs. 5 and 6, a hatbody is fitted over the same and pulled down over the ring 111, as shown by the dotted lines 1 in Fig. 5, the hat-body being clamped to the ring by means of a cap, P, swiveled to an arm, S, which is hung to a standard, T, on the trough D, so that the cap can be thrown upward and backward, in order to be out of the way when it is desired to apply the hat-body to or remove it from the levers M and ring m. Suitable projections on the arm S and standard T serve as stops for properly limiting the backward movement of the arm S. When the hat-body is adjusted to the position shown by the dotted lines 1 the rotation of the driving-shaft E causes a vibration of the frame F, and a vertical reciprocation of the sleeve G, the movement of the latter being transmitted, through the medium of the rods N, to the levers M, the latter being thus caused to vibrate, the ends of the long arms of the levers taking an outward and downward course, so as to cause the expansion of the hat-body. The extent of the vibration of the levers M depends upon the distance between the bearing of the roller 0 at the lower end of the sleeve G and the center line of the journals of the rollers c, which form the fulcrums of the frame F. In order, therefore, that the extent of vibration of the levers M may be under the control of the operator of the machine, I render these fulcrums adjustable from and toward the center of the roller 0, the adjustment being by means of atreadle, W, made in the form of a pair of bell-crank levers hung to a transverse shaft, 8, the long arms of these levers being furnished with an appropriate foot-board, and the short arm of each lever being connected,

by a rod, t, to one of the arms a of the frame F, at a point adjacent to the journal of the roller 0.

It will thus be seen that on operating the treadle the fulcrums of the frame F will be caused to approach or recede from the bearingline of the roller 0, and the extent of vibration of the levers M will be correspondingly lcssened or increased, so that the hat-body may be expanded to any desired extent.

It should be understood that when the expanding-levers first commence to act upon the hat-body the fulcrums of the frame Fare close to or in line with the bearing of the roller 0, so that the expanding action of the levers is very slight, the expansion being gradually increased by operating the treadle, and causing the fulcrums of the frame F to recede from the bearing-line of the roller 0 until the hatbody has been stretched to the desired extent. (See dotted lines 2 and 3, Fig. 5.)

In Fig. 8, Sheet 3, I have shown a modified arrangement of devices for attaining this result. In this case a definite reciprocating movement is imparted to the cap P, and also to the frame J, owing to the contact of the cap with the ring on carried by said frame. The lower ends of the arms N are connected to a nut, X, adapted to a threaded portion ofthe stem H, so that the extent to which the long arms of the levers M are expanded as the frame J is verticallyreciprocated will depend upon the vertical position to which the nut X has been adjusted upon the stem 11, the lowering of the nut serving to decrease the limit of expansion of the levers, and the elevation of the nut tending to increase the limit. The nut X should have detachable handles, whereby it may be readily manipulated, the levers and frame Jturning with the nut.

In order to adapt the machine for stretching hats ofa character requiring the use of more than three expanding-levers, the frame J and sleeve G or nut X may be provided with bearings for three other levers, if desired, these levers being applied or removed, as the character of the work to be performed may suggest, so that the most effective action of the machine at all times is insured.

In some machines the clamping-cap I may be dispensed with, the hat-body being held down on the ring at by hand; but the use of the cap is preferred, as the hat-bodies are generally hot and difficult to handle. The cap should also be provided with handles, so as to facilitate the manipulation of the same.

In machines intended for stretching hats which have already been subjected to a stretchin g action on a separate machine, the devices for varying the degree of expansion of the levers may be dispensed with, said levers having a definite movement imparted to them from the shaft. Pivoted arms may also be used, in some cases, in place of levers.

I claim as my invention-.

1. The mode herein described of stretching hat-bodies, said mode consisting in applying internal pressure to the hat at a limited and uneven number of points, all substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a hat-stretchingmachine, of expanding devices adapted to act upon the inside of the hat-body only, with an annular clamping device for holding the said hat-body, said clamping device occupying a fixed vertical position in respect to the fulcrums of the expanding devices, as set forth.

3. The combination, in a hat-stretchin g machine, of expanding devices adapted to act upon the inside of the hatbody only, with operating devices having a definite reciprocating motion, and with adjusting mechanism whereby the outward limit of the expanding devices may be varied during the stretching operation, as set forth.

4. The combination, in a hat-stretching machine, of expanding devices and an annular clamping device for holding the hat-body during the action of said expanding devices, one of said elements being adjustable circumferentially in respect to the other, whereby different circumferential portions of the hat-body may be successively exposed to the action of the expanding devices, as specified.

5. The combination of expanding devices with a hat-supporting ring capable of rotating in respect to said devices, as set forth.

6. The combination of expanding devices with a hat-supporting ring and a clampingcap, each capable of rotating in respect to said expanding devices, as specified.

7. The combination, in a hat-stretching machine, of a device for supporting the hat-body, With a series of expanding arms or levers pivoted, in respect to said supporting device, as shown, whereby the acting portions of said arms or levers move in an outward and downward course, as set forth.

8. The combination of a frame, J, expanding-levers M, a sleeve, G, connected thereto, a frame,'F, the fulcrums of which are adjustable from and toward the sleeve, and means for vibrating said frame, as specified.

9. The combination of the frame J, expanding-levers M, sleeve Gr, vibrating frame F, and treadle W, connected to said frame, as specified. v

In testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

H. O. HEOKENDORN.

Witnesses JAMES F. ToBIN, HARRY SMITH. 

